Presque Isle Chemical Company 

State Superfund Site

Located near Forest Drive in Washington Township PA, 16412

On December 18, 2000, a group of students from J.W. Parker Middle school (Adam Muth, Jessica Brookhouser, and Sarah McConnell) met with Hal Beavers, the project manager from the DEP, (Department of Environmental Protection) according to Mr.Beavers...

A man by the name of Frank Schiller bought a plot of farmland approximately 28.7 acres, in 1969 (which later became known as the Presque Isle Chemical hazardous waste site). Over the years, the land became heavily polluted by cancer causing solvents such as tool cleaning, and dry cleaning materials. It wasn't proven, but it was suspected that Mr. Schiller was responsible for the pollution of the soils, surface water, sediment and ground water by improperly disposing of hazard chemicals. 

In the mid 1980's when officials became aware of the major problem the site was causing, a chain link fence was put around the area to warn people of the contamination. The problem became noticeable when a neighboring woman noticed soot on her hanging-to-dry clothing She contacted the DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) but the department didn't recognize the problem as the big threat it soon became. Later, in the year of 1988, an unusual number of fish were found dead in a nearby stream. The Pennsylvania Fish Commission contacted the DEP. The DEP decided to have an investigation, and found that man-made chemicals were the source of the problem. 

It was decided that a plan needed to be made quickly to stop the spreading of the chemicals However, at the time, a development of a residential area adjacent to the site, named Conneautee Heights, was being built, making it hard for the clean up process. The new homes were obtaining drinking water from wells that were down gradient from the site. DEP sampled all the wells and found that three of the wells were contaminated with site-related chemicals.   DEP immediately installed treatment units on the three contaminated, residential wells and continued to sample the other residential wells that were in danger of contamination from the site. As a permanent solution, DEP provided a 2.3 million dollar grant to Washington Township for the construction of a public water system for the residents that may be affected by site-related contamination.

A clean up strategy was prepared and the plan required a 1,100-foot long removal trench and a series of 50 monitoring wells. The trench would catch the water and send it to a treatment plant, located on the site . In 1995 all contaminated soil was removed and replaced with clean soil.  Today, soils on the site are free of contamination, but groundwater is till contaminated. Treatment of the groundwater will continue in the on-site treatment plant until contaminants are below acceptable limits.

The total cost of the Presque Isle Chemical Company State Superfund Site cleanup, and new public water system, was approximately seven million dollars in state funds. A small amount of groundwater contamination was found northeast of the site. Human health and the environment should not be greatly affected by this, as the plume of contamination is moving very slowly and is in low concentration. The land was leased to the Regional Community Services and will hopefully become a Recreational Park.

This page was created by:
Jessica Brookhouser, Adam Muth, and Sarah McConnell.

PRESQUE ISLE CHEMICAL IN LAST STAGES OF CLEANUP
. . . . . . .. June 9, 2000

DEP completed the final phase of the Hazardous Site Cleanup
Act-funded remediation at the Schiller site on May 25. The Presque Isle
Chemical Co. recycled solvents and conducted disposal at the site during the
1970s and1980s. As a result of those activities, soil, groundwater and
surface water became contaminated with volatile organic compounds and heavy
metals. The final stages of cleanup involved remediating subsurface soils by
excavating and treating those soils at the site. Site wetlands, streams,
woodlots and agricultural land at the 147-acre property have been restored.

DEP ASKS COURT FOR HAZARDOUS SITE JUDGEMENT